Rob Guttschow and John Gambla are Senior Portfolio Managers of the First Trust Advisors Alternatives Team. While First Trust has a wide variety of products, including over 75 ETF products available with over $16 billion in assets under management, Gambla and Guttschow have recently launched the firm’s first two alternative ETFs to provide the benefits of alternative investment strategies to retail investors.
Recent advances in technology and portfolio theory have removed long-standing barriers to entry for retail investors to invest in alternatives. Certain strategies can now be successfully translated into 1940 Act Structures without the loss of core efficacy. The newly launched ETF’s are a
long-only commodities product and a managed futures strategy, which have been formatted and structured to be liquid for RIA’s and investors who want access to uncorrelated markets. Retail investors will likely follow the success that institutional investors have had in shifting more toward alternatives, and will therefore move from a 60/40 portfolio allocation to a more dynamic 50/30/20 allocation.
Their approach utilizes a quantitative framework with qualitative overlays within a systematic and disciplined investment process to avoid pitfalls of behavioral finance or cognitive biases.
Learn about:
- The launch of Alternative Hedged Strategy ETFs and access for retail investors
- Investor benefits: greater diversification
- The background and Partnership behind the First Trust Alternatives Platform
- Systematic disciplined investment process
- Quantitative framework with qualitative overlays
- Why Alternative ETFs can provide long-term flexibility for retail investors
John Gambla, CFA, FRM, PRM, is a Senior Portfolio Manager and co-head of the Alternatives Investment Team at First Trust Advisors. John has 20+ years of investment experience, most recently as Co-Chief Investment Officer at the Nuveen HydePark Group LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nuveen Investments. . Mr. Gambla has served in a variety of roles throughout his career including: portfolio management, research, business development and strategy development.
Mr Gambla graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Science in genetics and developmental biology (Cum Laude) and a Bachelor of Arts in finance (departmental distinction) from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. He is a CFA Charter holder and holds FRM and PRM designations.
Rob A. Guttschow, CFA, is a Senior Portfolio Manager and co-head of the Alternative Investment Team at First Trust Advisors. Mr. Guttschow has 20+ years of investment experience managing a variety of strategies including equity, fixed income, commodities, and derivative based strategies. Prior to joining First Trust in July 2011, Mr. Guttschow was Co-Chief Investment Officer at Nuveen HydePark Group LLC where he started in 2007. Previously, Mr. Guttschow was an Overlay Manager and Senior Portfolio Manager at Nuveen Asset Management, where he developed Nuveen’s buy-side derivative desk for fixed income and equity portfolio hedging. Mr. Guttschow was responsible for developing and implementing derivative based hedging strategies for 9 portfolio managers and $50+ billion in assets under management.
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Rob Guttschow and John Gambla are Senior Portfolio Managers of the First Trust Advisors Alternatives Team. While First Trust has a wide variety of products, including over 75 ETF products available with over $16 billion in assets under management, Gambla and Guttschow have recently launched the firm’s first two alternative ETFs to provide the benefits of alternative investment strategies to retail investors.
Recent advances in technology and portfolio theory have removed long-standing barriers to entry for retail investors to invest
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